Thursday, September 07, 2006

CENTRE of EVIL

Tony Wilson has never been very popular in Manchester. You know what they say ‘He’s too arrogant / Big fish in a little pond / Who does he think he is? Etc.

I’ve always liked him - but it’s no surprise to see he’s in trouble again.

According to the Tameside Advertiser - stop me if you’ve already read it - during a recent conversation on Radio Manchester with local cartoonist Tony Husband, the town of Hyde was referred to as the ‘centre of evil’.

Hyde will unfortunately always be associated with Harold Shipman, Myra Hindley and Ian Brady. None of these serial killers is originally from Hyde. Shipman was born in Nottingham and the other two are Mancunians.

Brady was born in Aked Street in Ardwick just next to the school where I started my teaching career. A visit to Saddleworth moor still makes the flesh creep.

I spend a lot of time in Tameside near Ashton under Lyne, Stalybridge and Hyde. The countryside is stunning and the people are absolutely great.

One day I was looking at Carlos’s fabulous Barcelona blogand noticed to my amazement a link to ‘Hyde daily photos’. There I found Gerald who does a great job for Hyde.

As someone once said to me, Tony Wilson may be a complete twat, but he used up most of his life savings to finance Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures, so he has to be let off the hook.

Anyway, I think he is morphing into Germaine Greer (or she's morphing into him) - the tendency to wear a lot of grey, the way they peer disapprovingly over their half moon spectacles, the dishevelled grey hair. You never see them together in the same place, either.